Rev. Zach

I was thinking the other day about a guy I knew in High School. He was one of the bravest people I've ever met. He wasn't an athlete or a class leader in any way. He was kind of mousy and shy. He sat alone at lunch with a Bible on the table next to him. Sometimes he would read to himself. He never talked about it to anyone who did not ask. He simply gave a silent, personal witness. The sad thing is that no one ever sat with him until all the other tables were full. I am ashamed to admit that I didn't sit with him either. Even worse, I don't even remember his name. When Jesus calls his first disciples in Matt 4:18-22, they leave their fishing nets and follow him. They leave everything! Now, I'm not suggesting that we need to do the same. But I wonder, what do we need to set down in order to follow him? Not everyone can just drop everything. Not everyone can make a public witness as bold as reading scripture in the middle of a High School cafeteria. ...

I'm guessing most people have seen the JC Penny Back to school add? I l o v e t h i s c o m m e r c i a l ! I k n o w , i t's totally fake. I love the response on YouTube that said, "Cause everyone in Highschool is a supermodel, right?" Yeah, yeah...but it's just fun. I like the idea of people being confident enough to strut their stuff and not care what others think. I don't think that's what they are really selling here. They're selling the idea that you aren't, but you could be. The song is good too, and they picked the one line that suites their cause. "Everybody's watching but nobody cares." That's good marketing, but it doesn't do the song justice. I go to church and I'm expected to be lost soul They need examples to use I could stay forever leave right now It's your call either way It's time to use my life for myself (most people just won't tell you that) I'm gona use my life for som...

The iTunes single of the week is Heavy Cross by The Gossip , a "post punk indy" band going mainstream. The band's bio makes no mention of any Christian connection or intention, and you have to register to see commentaries or reviews of the music. The only actual reference to Christianity is the image of an ornate, upside down cross on the album art for the song. I'm not a fan of that. The cross is not something to take lightly or use sarcasticly. That being said, let me tell you what I do like about this band and this song from a first glance. The first thing you will notice is that their lead singer is not a normal hottie with a body who wants you to want her. She is, shall we say, a plus size woman with tatoos and very little fear. The next thing I want you to notice is the meaning behind the words. It's a cruel cruel world, to face on your own, A heavy cross, to carry along, The lights are on, but everyone's gone, And it's cruel It's a fu...

So I was getting ready for work this morning and I slapped some gel in my hair. Yes, I wear "product." In fact, a few of you have made fun of me for how much I wear when my hair gets a little longer than normal. Anyway, I have this funny brain that says that all of life is sacred. That's an idea that has been passed down for centuries from John Calvin . All of life? Everything? Mosquitoes? Sand gnats (not baseball )? Yes, everything. Here's how Ole Johny Boy put it: God has destined all things for our good and salvation, but at the same time, to feel God's power and grace in ourselves and in the great benefits God has confered upon us, and so bestir ourselves to trust, invoke, praise, and love God Say Wha? Scripture says it this way in Romans 8:28 - 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. OK. Still trying to figure out how Sand gnats and poison ivy fit in? What abou...

"For freedom, Christ has set us free ." What the heck does that mean? For such a truth filled book, the Bible can sometimes read like Dr. Sues. Consider this one from Romans 7:15 . I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. It doesn't make sense to us. We are people who make their own decisions and live freely. We are are Americans. We are citizens of The World Super Power. We do not do the things we hate. We do the things we choose to do. Right? Except...except when we don't. I don't mean that we are walking around like zombies doing things we don't want to do without knowing it. What I do mean to say is that we often get caught up in things we do not mean to. Who has not been to a web site that they were not supposed to? Who has not been in an argument with parents over cleaning their room or doing something they want instead of something they have been asked to do? That's life. Life is full of c...

So what is an Icon ? Literally, it means an image. When we think of Icons we often think of people who are larger than life, people who symbolize movements or ideals like Bob Marley , Chez Guevara , or Martin Luther King Jr. These are people who's faces end up on t-shirts, and sometimes the image is used for things the person never intended. We like to do that kind of thing. We glamorize "idols" and love to lift up the ones who are truly weird but still successful. Why? I guess it's because it make us feel better about ourselves. No matter how good we are we know we can't be MLK or Gandhi , so isn't it good that some one else was. No matter how bad we are at least we aren't Jennifer . Icons are also smaller than life. It is the term we use to describe the little images we click on to open a computer program. They move us from something small into something bigger. In the Christian tradition, Icons have been used in this same way for centuries. ...